Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is New England Research & Management Inc.’s Largest Position

New England Research & Management Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 35,820 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 528 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up approximately 4.6% of New England Research & Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its largest holding. New England Research & Management Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $8,970,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. AMF Tjanstepension AB raised its holdings in Apple by 21.1% in the third quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 3,380,064 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $787,631,000 after buying an additional 588,427 shares during the period. O Keefe Stevens Advisory Inc. grew its holdings in Apple by 49.5% during the 3rd quarter. O Keefe Stevens Advisory Inc. now owns 4,168 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $971,000 after purchasing an additional 1,380 shares in the last quarter. Reliant Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Apple by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Reliant Investment Management LLC now owns 44,787 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $10,435,000 after buying an additional 359 shares during the period. Trust Co of Kansas increased its stake in Apple by 7.2% during the 3rd quarter. Trust Co of Kansas now owns 42,829 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $9,979,000 after buying an additional 2,865 shares during the period. Finally, Brookstone Capital Management grew its stake in Apple by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 583,413 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $135,935,000 after purchasing an additional 14,969 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AAPL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed an “underperform” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. KeyCorp reissued an “underweight” rating and set a $200.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Apple to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Apple to $236.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $243.65.

Apple Stock Up 1.4 %

AAPL stock opened at $223.75 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $231.35 and its 200-day simple moving average is $233.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.88. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $164.08 and a 52-week high of $260.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.36 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.52, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.18.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.45%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 15.87%.

Apple Profile

Apple Inc designs, manufactures, and markets smartphones, personal computers, tablets, wearables, and accessories worldwide. The company offers iPhone, a line of smartphones; Mac, a line of personal computers; iPad, a line of multi-purpose tablets; and wearables, home, and accessories comprising AirPods, Apple TV, Apple Watch, Beats products, and HomePod.